1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for covering rain gutters, directing rain water from a sloping building roof into the gutter while protecting the gutter from accumulation of leaves and debris.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
Rain gutters are customarily provided adjacent to a sloping roof of a building. Typically they are comprised of a trough shaped horizontal section running along the edge of the roof and a vertical downpipe. Common problems associated with rain gutters are that leaves and debris pile up and clog them, and that water travelling down a sloping roof might gather enough momentum to overcome surface adhesion force and flow over the outer edge of the gutter and down the building wall instead of into the gutter.
Presently, the debris accumulation problem has been attempted to be solved by a variety of means. A number of patents, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,219,953, 4,553,356, 4,644,704, and 4,907,381, attempt to solve this problem by covering the gutter with a screen or a mesh guard. These devices are in wide-spread use today, due in no small part to their relatively low price and ease in installation. Unfortunately this approach has proven to be less than acceptable since leaves and debris continues to pile up on the screen surface thus blocking access of water to the gutter.
Another approach to attempt to separate debris from water is addressed in a number of patents which employ the surface tension of the water along a solid arcuate member to direct only water into the gutter. Devices of this nature are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,404,775, 4,607,465 and 4,866,890. One of the primary problems created by deflector-type gutter guards are that they are usually bulky and are often difficult to install. Generally, these devices require the gutter to be replaced, or repositioned or modified to accommodate the curve of the arcuate member. These devices are also deficient in that their water carrying capacity is limited, depending in large part on the radius of the arcuate member, which often results in overflow in heavy rain storms. Finally, leaves continue to be a problem by sticking to the solid deflector surfaces, lessening surface adhesion force and again leading to the gutter overflow problems, and by being inadequately screened from the gutter, especially as the arc of the gutter is increased to increase the water carrying capacity.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a gutter guard which effectively separates leaves and other debris from rainwater entering a gutter, while requiring minimum maintenance.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a gutter guard which is relatively inexpensive to manufacturer and which may be readily installed on existing gutters without modification.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide such a gutter guard which employs an arcuate surface to separate debris, but includes means to assure that water is always directed into the gutter even in heavy rain storms.
These and other objects of the present invention will become evident upon review of the following description of the present invention.